Maccabi Tel Aviv captured their 47th Israel State Cup as they defeated Bnei Herzliya 109-90. The MVP Roman Sorkin paced the offense in the first half for Oded Katash’s squad, while Jaylen Hoard did the same in the second half to run away with the victory and hoist the cup to the delight of the yellow-and-blue fans.

Jaylen Hoard and Roman Sorkin scored for the yellow-and-blue while Max Heidegger and Frederic Bourdillon went from deep for Herzliya to get the game off and running but Sorkin kept piling in points with a trio from downtown to give Maccabi a 59-39 advantage at halftime. Onuaku tried to keep Yehu Orland’s team in the game, but Hoard and Oshae Brissett poured in the points and Tamir Blatt started to hit his shots from beyond the arc to wrap up the title.

Sorkin scored 25 points, Hoard added 20 points while Blatt put in 14 points in the win. Onuaku scored 16 points and Noah Carter chipped in with 15 points in the loss.

Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Oded Katash spoke about winning the cup, “We’re very happy and it was really exciting. We are proud that we made it and it was not an easy journey. Most of the game plan worked out well especially as we focussed on defense the past few days as I knew our offense would be fine. Herzliya has some very dangerous scorers and players who can post up which we knew would be challenging, especially Onuaku who can hurt you with his passing game. The players understood what we were playing for and I’m very happy about that.”

Bnei Herzliya Head Coach Yehu Orland looked back at the defeat, “I’m disappointed as we lost in a final and we should feel that way. The game got out of hand quickly and Maccabi is used to playing in this arena. There were a lot of foul calls and when we tried to get into game they ended up going to the line. We are coming out of here with mixed feelings as we are proud of what we were able to do and what we’ve been doing this season, but it’s tough against a team like Maccabi.”

Jaylen Hoard, who scored 20 points, said, “It wasn’t simple to win the cup, especially the matchup against Hapoel Jerusalem B.C. (in the semifinal), but it’s a title I really wanted to win. We’re having a challenging season and after many injuries, so it’s very gratifying. We’re a very united team on and off the court, and I hope we’ll also win the championship.”

Tamir Blatt, who stood out with 14 points and 8 assists, added, “We had an excellent game plan that helped us make it look easy. Scoring 109 points is impressive. I got into good situations during the game and I’m happy the shots went in and that we won the cup and that’s what matters.”

Shalev Lugashi, the Herzliya captain, spoke about the loss, “We came in with the proper energy and it’s tough to find the right words to express myself now. It’s tough at this moment to lose the State Cup and it’s much bigger defeat than others. We made a lot of mistakes and we need to take a good look at what we did wrong and how we can correct that.”

Frederic Bourdillon and Will Rayman traded triples to begin the game, Jaylen Hoard got busy from the outside and the inside, DJ Burns and Chinanu Onuaku responded, Max Heidegger dialled up for a trio from long distance, Gur Lavy put in points while Noah Carter did the same at the other end but a Marcio Santos deuce gave Maccabi a 30-23 lead after ten minutes of play.

John Dibartolomeo led off the second quarter from beyond the arc, Carter came back with a dunk, Oshae Brissett scored, Elijah Stewart dunked, Sorkin went for a trio from deep, Onuaku and Shalev Lugashi both hit 3-pointers, Clark went off the backboard and then from deep and Jeff Dowtin drained a corner 3-ball to put Oded Katash’s team in front 59-39 at halftime.

Onuaku scored to start the third quarter, Clark came right back from deep, Stewart did the same at the other end, Brissett knocked down a pair from downtown, Onuaku scored again, Carter went from deep, Hoard put the hammer down, Tamir Blatt dialled up long distance, Denver Jones did the same but Maccabi stayed in front 83-63 after thirty minutes of action.

Blatt went from deep to get the final frame underway, Sorkin added a deuce, Stewart nailed a 3-pointer, Shalev Lugashi went from the outside and inside, Blatt dialled up long distance, Santos dunked and Oren Sahar put the finishing touches on the victory.